Magnolia Sisters play Cajun with a woman’s touch

LAFAYETTE — The significance of two female Cajun bands named as Grammy nominees is not lost on the Magnolia Sisters. Although a husband and wife, Joe and Cleoma Falcon, made the genre’s first recording in 1928, Cajun music has generally been a men’s only club.

Magnolia Sisters co-founder Jane Vidrine moved to Louisiana in the early 1980s and could only find two women, Sheryl Cormier and her friend Ann Savoy, playing on Cajun bandstands.

“It was really not that socially acceptable for women to play out,” said Vidrine. “Now, to have this great dance band, like Bonsoir, Catin, and us nominated in